


Downfall of the Core

by theagentshade



Category: Professor Layton
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Suspense, Teenage Drama, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2014-04-23
Packaged: 2017-12-21 23:05:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/906014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theagentshade/pseuds/theagentshade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's one year after the Unwound Future, and Luke is going to America (Sacramento, California) as an foreign exchange student. Coincidentally, at the same time, Layton is going to the same town to fulfill a sudden request from an American friend he made in Grade 10. Little do they know they're going into the same mystery involving the people they have learned to trust most, and for three people stuck in this twist, they soon realize they can use it for their own advantages.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Body Control

_Attention riders. We are landing at our destination in 10 minutes. Please buckle your seatbelts._

Luke sighed a breath of relief, a hint of joy and anxiety flickering inside him. The joy of getting off this ten hour plane ride was getting him; so was the anxiety of meeting his temporary new family.

He put his tray up, disposing his cup in the cart that happened to come by. He didn’t need to buckle his seat belt; he had only unbuckled when he went to the bathroom; he didn’t feel safe unbuckling it otherwise. Soon enough, he felt the weight of the plane shift downwards, then go in a downwards motion.

The motion made him jump, despite the tight seat belt; this is the first time he’d ever been on a plane, the first time he felt that downwards motion underneath his body. It felt foreign to him; everything about planes did. He didn’t think planes were this dense, or moved this gracefully through the sky.

Luke looked out his window, for the hundredth time today. Like for the whole ride, he saw fields, splotches of different colors, but he also noticed to glimpse of the ocean in the distance, and that the plane was a bit lower than before.

As the minutes passed by, Luke could feel his ear pop, making him cringe as the ground became closer and closer. Lucky for him, his ears didn’t pop anymore on the rest of the way down. The plane started to come down a little faster, making buildings barely visible to the naked eye.

Before he knew it, Luke felt his stomach drop as the plane dropped elevation faster. His ears popped again, but this time he held back his cringe.

The plane landed on the ground, and Luke could hear the wheels scraping on the concrete, going just as fast as it did in the sky. Slowly, the plane slowed down, slower, slower, slower, then went into a stop.

_You may now unbuckle your seat belt. Please pick up your entire luggage before exiting the plane. Thank you, and have a nice day._

Luke unbuckled his seat belt faster than intended and immediately got up, his vision crowded with blur and black for a second, causing him to feel dizzy. He blinked rapidly before catching his balance and stepping out of his seat. He reached for the handle above him, pulling it upward and standing on his toes to reach the bag. His legs shook as he placed it on the ground, amazed his arms didn’t give out. He had just entered adolescence; his muscles weren’t developed enough to carry it properly. Despite the long line in front of him, it didn’t take long for him to get to the front of the plane and go into the tunnel connected to it. He started to run, but suddenly realized he shouldn’t.

_Gentlemen don’t run in public, Luke thought. Well, unless it’s necessary, which it’s not._

The thought of behaving like a gentlemen made memories flood into his head; he remembered how Professor would remind him all the time about acting like a gentlemen, all the puzzles they solved together, all the places they’ve been too…

_It feels so strange all that happened only last year, he continued thinking. It feels so recent, yet so long ago at the same time…_

Luke came out of the tunnel, rows of chairs in every square of rug, TV screens above them. A hallway was in the middle of the room, busy with people pulling or carrying their luggage. He walked out of the walkway of the tunnels into the rows of chairs, then down the hall.

After what felt like hours of walking and going up and down staircases, he could see circles, the center black with an outer circle a few feet below around it, covered in gray shutters. Each circle said "LUGGAGE PICK-UP" with a black screen filled with flights underneath, shown in an irritating shade of red. However, Luke didn’t need to check the flights on any of them; he brought his two medium sized suitcases on the plane.

He strolled by the big circles, looking at his surroundings, not positive on where he was going. He sat in a convenient bench, hoping to gather his thoughts and to figure out where he was going.

And that’s when he had to go to the bathroom.

He grumbled and got up, having to lag his luggage with him. He suddenly felt weaker; his legs tripped over themselves, causing him to lean to his side before catching his balance, but he couldn’t save his luggage, as they dropped on the ground with a thump.

Luke’s joy and anxiety got replaced with displease; it was enough he was in a foreign country with only the sun with his back, and that he wasn’t sure where he was going. Trying not to break down in public was making it worse.

He didn’t pay much attention to him surroundings as he got up and fumbled with his stuff. All he cared about was finding a bathroom.

Within a couple minutes, a hint of his joy went coming back as he saw some bathrooms. He walked as fast as his legs were willing to, feeling like he was accomplishing something for some reason. Before he could react, he felt another body ram into his.

“Aaag!” Luke yelped, stumbling back and dropping his items once again. He let out an annoyed huff before bending down to pick up his stuff.

“Sorry!” a deep feminine voice exclaimed, bending down, picking up one of his suitcases.

“Don’t sweat it,” Luke said with as little annoyance as he could manage, getting the suitcase he picked up into his arms, taking his other one from the girl he bumped into. Luke stood up fully, seeing who the heck bumped into him. She was obviously a teenage girl, but was hard to tell her exact age; Luke was guessing she was his age. She had short messy auburn hair that that stood out in the bland gray and tan walls of the airport. She had rich brown eyes that were mostly neutral-expressional, but if you looked carefully, there was a little annoyance mixed in there. _I hope it’s not because of me._

Near the bottom of his vision, he could see the girl holding a big white sign under her arm. He couldn’t see all the letters from where he was standing, but he could spot out ‘LU’ with “TRI’ underneath. He wanted to ask what that sign said; both words had the first letters of his first and last name. _It’s probably just a coincidence. Why would a teenage girl be wondering around, looking for me?_

Deciding not to ask, he started to walk off. “Sorry to bother you even more,” the girl said, touching the front of his shoulder with the edge of her fingertips, “but have you seen any 14-year-old boys around here? To be more specific, English ones?”

Luke shrugged. “Yeah.”

The girl let out a breath of relief. “Where did he go? Or they go? I don't know...”

Luke smiled a little bit when he said, “Actually, you’re looking at one.”

“...Oh,” the girl said, her eyes widening a hint, her body leaning back just enough to be noticeable. She then looked dumbfounded, as if she didn’t understand a joke until 10 minutes after hearing it. She stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before a look of realization sprouted on her face. "Gah, I should have known earlier. After all, you have an accent, and there's a low chance of other 14 year old English boys being around here...” the girl said.

Luke raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

The girl made a little sigh, almost too quiet for most people to hear. “What I mean is I should have known that you’re Luke Triton the second I heard your voice because of your accent.”

Luke raised both of his eyebrows. “Accent? Just what are you talking about?” The girl looked like she was holding back a laugh, her lips creasing into her face. “Oh, never mind,” she said quickly. “Anyway, I’m Serene. You’re going to be living with my brother, my mom and I.”

Luke nodded. “Nice to meet you. I’m Lu-oh wait, you already know who I am.”

“Well, duh,” Serene said, motioning him to follow her. “Hey, do you want some help carrying your things?”

“Oh no, I’m sure I can take them,” Luke reassured. Coincidentally bumping into Serene had caused his bladder to forget it was filled up; Luke then remembered his rush to go to it, feeling happy it was willing to wait.

Serene lead Luke all the way to the front doors of the airport, where a woman tucking her hair behind her ears and a boy that looked a little younger than Luke were waiting. _I’m guessing those are her mum and brother_.

Serene stopped next to her family. The woman stepped up first, holding her hand out. “Luke, this is Kaylene. Kaylene, Luke,” Serene said, standing in between them.

“Wow. I didn’t know children called their parents by their first names in America!” Luke said, shaking Kaylene’s hand. Kaylene shook hands with Luke before rolling her eyes at Serene and whispering to him, “We normally don’t. Serene just calls me by my first name to get on my nerves.”

The boy went up next and shook hands with Luke. “Tyler.”

“Luke,” Luke said.

“I know,” Tyler said. “My sister covered that.”

Kaylene shot Tyler a glare. Luke didn’t want to say it, but he found her glare somewhat amusing; he hid back a smile the best he could.

“Sorry Mom,” Tyler muttered.

Serene picked up Luke’s bags, shoving one into Tyler’s arms. Tyler was clearly about to hand it back to her when Luke said, “Don’t worry. I can carry them.”

“I’m sure you’re sick of carrying them after all this time,” Serene said. “We’re letting you have your arms free. Right, Tyler?”

Tyler didn’t answer, walking off, carrying the bag so low it was almost dragging on the ground. Luke heard Serene sigh as he followed her outside. He almost grinned as he went through the glass door, taking a deep breath, but coughing when he realized how polluted it is in front of an airport.

Serene turned her head about one hundred eighty degrees. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Luke said, coughing a few more times before getting all the polluted air out of him.

Luke’s very small grin turned into a frown when they stopped at a sign with the number 8 on it. “Why are we stopping?”

“Let’s just say it took a long time to find a parking spot, and we ended up being farther from the entrance than we intended,” Serene said.

“Sorry,” Kaylene said. “We know you’re tired enough, from the plane and time cha-

“ “No worries!” Luke said. “It’s okay, really!” Luke frowned again, remembering more of Professor’s words; _Gentlemen do not interrupt a lady._

_Darn it. I hope she didn’t mind my interruption._

Fortunately, Kaylene didn’t look offended and said, “Oh, but…if you say so.”

The bus came a few minutes later, and because if the bus being next to empty, everyone was silent as the bus went down to the parking lot. In the beginning it was a reassuring silence, but Luke felt awkwardness prick at him as time wore on. He wanted to say something; he just wasn’t sure what to say.

The bus made an irruptive stop in front of a several story stone lot, making Luke’s stomach jump. The shock didn’t last long; Luke stretched his legs and followed his temporary family out, Serene and Tyler still carrying his bags.

“What floor is your car on?” Luke said as they stepped in the low-ceiling building.

“The fourth floor,” Kaylene answered, pressing the button on the elevator. Luke having the thought of going into an elevator made his legs more jumpy; he then wanted to dash up the stairs, run around the lot, do something that involved his legs moving. But he knew it would be rude to just suddenly start to run; he patiently waited for the elevator to come down.

“Hey Luke, do you want to race up the stairs?” Tyler said, walking away from the elevator entrance.

Luke gave an asking look to Serene and Kaylene, wanting to say yes to Tyler’s request more than anything. Both girls glanced at each other, then shrugged. Luke’s grin returned. _I take that as a yes_. “Absolutely.”

“Okay!” Tyler said. “3…2…1…Go!” He took off just as Luke stood in the same place he was.

“That’s not fair! You got a head start!” Luke exclaimed, taking off.

For the first story of stairs, Tyler was ahead of Luke, but for the next two Luke caught up to him.

However, the fourth was different. The holding feeling in his bladder returned, making it harder to run. _Damn it! How did I forget I had to go? You don’t have to run much longer. You can hold it, Luke._

But when he finally got halfway thought the floor, he wasn’t so sure. Luke felt a wet drop soak his knickers. _No, no, no!_

He ran faster, using his strength to hold his bladder. He was using so much strength in his bladder he started to slow down. He heard Tyler mutter a ‘yes!’ as he sped ahead of him.

When Luke reached the last step, he let go of the strength a little bit, feeling more wet in his knickers. He got his strength a hold of his bladder once again, amazed how well he was pulling through.

“I win, slowpoke!” Tyler said, jumping up.

A few seconds later, the elevator door opened, and Kaylene and Serene walked out. “Did you win? Good job.” Serene said.

Kaylene frowned. “You didn’t let our guest win?”

“It was only a friendly competition,” Luke reassured her, trying not to jiggle his legs. “On a completely different topic, is there a bathroom around here?”

Kaylene looked around before saying, “I’m afraid not. You’ll either have to go back to the airport or wait until we arrive at the house."

Luke held back a cringe, biting his lip. Kaylene must have noticed because she said, “Do you have to go badly?” “Yes!”

Luke exclaimed a little more desperate then he wanted to.

“We’ll get home as fast as we can,” Kaylene said. “Serene, Tyler, let’s go!”


	2. Drawn In

A paper flew out Serene’s locker, fluttering to the ground, landing a few feet away. She sighed as she picked it up, bonking her head on the top of her locker as she bent down, reached for it, and picked it up. Her locker rang from her head bonking into it, flying to the edge of its hinges. Still ringing, it flew to the opposite edge, barely touching it before stopping in between the two edges.

Serene stuffed the paper in the crack of two binders, choosing to deal with it later. She then closed her locker and pushing the lock into its locked form before taking long steps through the hall, only focusing on going to her next class.

Serene passed groups of kids chatting and goofing off, unaware of Serene’s existence. That was normal; nobody ever seemed to notice Serene. Throughout middle school, cliques would a little too often have their backs turned on her, as if non-verbally saying, “You can’t be with us, bitch.” Serene didn’t always know if they just happened to have their backs turned at that moment or if they were really rejecting her, she could never tell. She knew cliques didn’t typically like her; probably because she didn’t like them.

Serene soon past the groups, the hall fading to quiet again. With such a big portion of students in cliques, the halls remained quiet; the unpopular and the people with no clique hung out in this hall. Serene knew some of them, but she only had one true friend who she met with in this supposedly hidden hallway.

This friend was the guy now a few feet away from her, leaning the top half of his body on the wall, her hood covering his forehead. Even though he didn’t bother to make her hood cover his identity, his green and black bangs covered his round eyes and thin eyebrows, just what you may expect the hood to cover.

“Hey Eric,” Serene said, leaning on the wall the same way as her friend, putting her body and binders next to her.

“Hey,” Eric said, flipping his bangs a tinge so she could see the auburn haired girl.

The two almost inseparable friends stood in silence, watching the world go past them. They weren’t the type of friends that would chat endlessly about whatever came to their head; only the cliques did that. Both of them saw their friendship as if they were two males; they usually didn’t say much to each other, but they would sometimes have enjoyable conversations.

Eventually Eric broke the silence by asking, “So, how’s the English student?”

Serene felt a pang of realization drop on to her; she had forgotten about Luke’s existence. _How did I forget so easily? He came yesterday, and that’s all Mom’s been thinking and talking about_.

Serene tried not the cringe at the incoming thought of her mom and her obsessive nature; she was always in a loop over one little thing, not thinking about anything else, pushing everything out of her way just to let her obsess. This deep flaw in Serene’s mother made her want to scream; she saw it as rather childish behavior, not something an adult should be stuck going through.

“Oh him,” Serene said, blinking several times, trying to recall a memory of him. “There’s not much I can say about him. He’s only been in America for 18 hours or something.”

“There has to be something you can say about him” Eric said, playfully punching Serene’s arm. Though Eric did punch a little hard, Serene enjoyed his playful punches; it was another thing she valued in their relationship.

“Well…” Serene stopped for a moment to let herself think. “He’s pretty nice, and really polite. He gets along with Tyler and me.”

Eric took a shallow breath and opened his mouth to talk, but closed it again. He then closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall.

Serene wondered what he was going to say, but thought she would be better off to not bother him about it; knowing his personality, she wouldn’t wring it out of him very easily.

Serene picked up her backpack and opened it up, fishing around for her usual snack. She often times would put in on the top so it would not get crushed and spoiled from her heavy binders and book, but she could not sense where he snack was with her hands.

Confused, she lifted her backpack to eye level, looking inside carefully.

She gripped on to the rough, rounded handle on top of her backpack with her left hand, going through her bag with her right. She moved around binders, dipping her arm into the cracks, feeling for a wrapper. Frowning, she started taking her stuff out and throwing it on the ground around her. She hardly ever put her things on the ground, let alone on a ground like a school hallway, but she didn’t know how else she was going to find her snack.

Serene grunted in frustration, practically putting her head in the backpack. _Just where the hell could it have gone?_

It was then when she noticed the tips of Eric’s bangs in her vision. They have known each other for such a long time they even had an idea how they took their stuff out of their backpack. “Trying to finding something?”

Serene looked over at Eric, and was really not surprised that he has picked up her binders and was holding them in his arms, waiting for her to take them. It was always typical for friends to pick their friend’s stuff of the ground, but Serene knew the main reason he did it was because he didn’t like things getting dropped.

Still looking over, Serene wiped a bit of sweat from her eyebrows. Her body temperature, especially in her chest and face, would rise rapidly when she was agitated. And of course, she was inside a heated building, which only worsened her agitated heat crash.

Serene tried not to roll her eyes as she replied, “No, I just wanted to see how long my binders would slide on the floor.”

Eric looked mentally confused for a second, but then realized she was using her sense of sarcasm and chuckled.

“No need to apologize for making a stupid question,” Serene said, taking her binders from her blue haired friend and putting them in her left underarm. “You should hear the teachers.”

“I already have,” Eric said. “I just don’t know how even your best friend can beat your sarcasm.”

Serene sighed as she took her binders out of her underarms as soon as she put them there and put them in her backpack. She was tired of looking for her damn snack. She zipped her backpack and put it back on the ground as she asked, “Eric, did you bring any food?”

When he didn’t answer, Serene’s face became a suspicious glare before looking at Eric. He seemed like he was thinking, but Serene knew that wasn’t the case.

She was about to ask him what he was holding back and that he might as well admit it because she wasn’t going to kill him even if she didn’t like his answer, but then the bell rang for the end of break.

Serene let out another sigh before saying. “Bye Eric. See you soon enough.”

“Bye,” Eric said with a wave of his hand before walking off.

Serene sighed for a third time; she didn’t like having to leave her best and only friend. But she had no choice; she was required to go to her next class, required to see people she disgusted but had to work with anyway, and required to waste an hour of her life surrounded by nothing that mattered to her.

When Serene arrived to her classroom, she plopped into her seat and clumsily put her binders on her desk, causing them to slide a hint. She propped her elbow on the desk and rubbed her forehead and eyes with her fingers, letting her face relax.

Just as she felt the tension flee out of her, her two right desk legs rattled, causing her eyes to fly open and her propped elbow to slam on her desk. “Yow!” she half-whispered, half-yodeled, jerking her arm off the desk the second pain rushed through the bone. She then lifted her head up, looking around her right side, searching for the cause of the rattle.

Before she could identify who caused the rattle, she heard a Engilsh accent loudly mutter, “Sorry!”

_I should have known it was Luke._

Serene shifted straight to the voice. Luke was now at the right corner of her desk. Not really thinking, Serene grumbled, “What the hell did you do to my desk?” “Nothing!” Luke said, stepping back a little. “I just tripped over one of the legs!”

“That’s still doing something,” Serene shot back. She was about to go back to her own business when she realized something was up. “Wait, what are you doing in junior’s world history?”

“Juniors?” Luke looked confused. “What are you doing in junior’s world history?”

Serene glared at him. “Hey, I asked first.”

“I thought this was a freshman class!”

“Now just what made you think this is a freshman class?”

Luke tilted his head a hint. “Aren’t you a freshman?”

Serene made a weird-looking face, half shocked, half confused. “No, I’m a junior.”

“Really?” Luke said. “No wonder I’ve hardly seen you around. You must be smart to have skipped two grades.”

Serene’s shock and confusion flipped into rage. She opened her mouth to yowl at him about the fact she was older than she looked, and it felt worse because he rubbed in it deeper then he should have, but her attention just had to get diverted to a bunch of giggling coming from her opposite side. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she turned her head to her left.

Serene just had to roll her eyes a second time, almost exactly like the first. There was a guy and a girl standing right beside the next closest to hers, looking straight at her, covering their mouths to hide their giggles. The girl soon realized Serene was glaring at them like a cow looks at an incoming train, her face freezing into place, but the boy could not shut the hell up.

Serene gave a hard glare to both of them. “What’s so hilarious about me to get you to laugh at my presence?”

The boy actually found a way to shut the hell up, and then rolled his eyes more dramatically than Serene even thought a human could roll their eyes and scoffed, “Why would I be laughing at you?”

Serene felt irritated heat rise inside her body. _Man, everything about Max makes me scream. Why am I even talking to him? I should have just kept my lips shut._

“Um, geez, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you’re looking straight at me.”

“Was I?” Max rolled his eyes. “Well, stop being so personal, Serene. Just because I was looking at you doesn’t mean I’m laughing at you.”

“You’re not convincing me,” Luke objected, raising an eyebrow.  
Serene flinched at the fact she was about to say the exact same thing, but she didn’t think about it much because she having a difficult time holding back a grin, but fortunately not as difficult as Max and the girl standing next to her were. She would never admit it, but she thought Luke looked a little amusing when he raised an eyebrow. Max’s focus shifted to Luke. “Butt out, foreign boy,” Max snapped.

Serene told herself to not interfere with Luke’s problem, but her instincts screamed at her to get off her ass and do something. It felt wrong to her just be a bystander; Serene always had fierce courage over standing up to people. You’d have a much higher chance with getting an argument out of Serene rather than tears; it’s not easy to mess with her. It was hard to tell why; despite her wittiness, her fierce courage didn’t come out of experience; she had been born with it. Deep in her soul, Serene could remember how the popular boys in elementary would tease her with their comments on her alternatively colored hair, her originality, the way she could never blend in. They would always find some excuse to tease her, but not matter how hard they tired they would eventually give up. Serene wasn’t sure if they didn’t want people know they would get outsmarted by a girl or they were just sick of her. _Probably both._

“Maybe you should butt out, asshole,” Serene said, standing up and pushing her chair behind her.

“Psh, since when was I the one butting in?” Max snarled.

Serene crossed her arms. “Since always.”

Serene expected to hear some ‘ooohs’ from a few students, but as she moved her eyes in her vision range, everyone was getting prepared for class, oblivious to more or less everything around them. Even the girl had left and was talking with another guy. _Huh, I thought a girl standing up against a guy was something people would be willing to watch; it’s quite an obscurity_.

“I-I’m gonna go now,” Luke stammered as he took a few steps back and rushed out.

Max stood on his toes and called out above Serene’s head loud enough for the whole class to hear, “Good!”

A few students looked up from what they were doing and noticed Max, but they soon got back into their own world. _Wow. Not even that did the trick._

“Back to our actually somewhat important conversation…” serene trailed off because max was already walking away, waving her snack in the air. Serene scowled. She would have stomped on over and took it, but she knew it was worthless; Max was like a six year old inside a sixteen year old. He didn’t listen to anyone, not even adults, and lied about everything someone could lie about.

_I should have known it was him! But then again, how could he have taken my backpack…?_  

Serene made what may be becoming her signature sigh as she propped her elbow back up and started rubbing her forehead once again.


	3. Red Ribbon

Layton semi-turned around, closing the entrance of the police station behind him. He pushed it a hint more, making sure it was fully closed before heading to the bus stop a couple blocks down.  
Layton’s legs grazed over the sidewalk, gazing at the hints of sunset coming up into the sky. He cleared his thoughts as he enjoyed the evening air slowly cooling, the fewer cars on the road, and knowing a long day of teaching was finally coming to an end.  
He sat on the bench, continuing to stare into the horizon until his ears heard the sound of the bus screeching to a stop. He got up and pushed himself up the steep steps right behind the entrance, said his little greeting to the driver, and sat in his usual seat.  
 _I’m not sure if I should call it my usual seat,_ the college teacher thought, his face somewhat tilted to the location of the window. _It’s not a regular basis I ride on here…not anymore._ He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he knew the reason of his abandoned routine was described in one word: Luke.  
Life was different for Layton without Luke; there were less and less mysteries going around without him. He knew Luke was never the cause of the mysteries; but despite how innocent and clever Luke always was, Layton though it was funny how his life-changing moments and mysteries happened in Luke’s presence.  
Layton let out a little sigh, not wanting to drown himself in nostalgia. It took him long enough to get used to Luke’s absence; he didn’t want to be in that stage all over again.  
He sat patiently in his seat for the rest of his short little trip, and before he knew it the brakes of the bus screeched as the door opened at the sidewalk of his destination.  
He stepped down from the bus, the now orange hue of the sky catching his eyes. He admired London’s unusual sunset, noticing the clouds appearing with a similar hue of the sky, the sun letting off less and less light, then walking down the path to his job and part time home.  
He pushed through the front doors of what he could call his home, feeling the cool air change from the fresh outdoors to the chills from the ground and walls. His footsteps echoed through the unusually empty hallway, the buffered sound attempting to interrupt his thoughts, but were failing to do so. It didn’t take long to reach the entrance to his cozy office, where he lifted himself from the deeper part of his thoughts as he took of his coat and put it on the convenient hanger next to the entrance. He then sat down on his old but still comfortable couch and breathed a relaxed sigh.  
Layton carefully lifted his oval-shaped tea filled cup off of his coffee table that sat in front of the couch, holding on to the handle with the tips of his fingers, softly blowing the heat smoking from his drink. He put his lips on the edge and slowly drank it down, the pleasant warmth filling through his body.  
The sudden slam from his door startled him, causing him to grasp on to his cup with a bit more tension. He controlled the tension and grasped his cup like he did previously when he realized it was just his housekeeper Rosa.  
Rosa walked past the couch and adjusted her bandana before saying, “Hello Professor.”  
“Why hello Rosa,” Layton said, putting his cup of tea on the petite plate before setting it back on the table.  
Rosa picked her duster out of her apron pocket and dusted the shelf that resided a few feet away from her desk. “How did you like the tea?”  
Layton stood up from the table stretching his legs. “It was quite alright.”  
“Excellent,” Rosa said, a small grin on her face. “Flora helped me pick it out.”  
Layton kept his face and posture straight at the mention of the innocent, kind girl, but his thoughts were quite different. _Flora?_  
“Did she?” Layton said with a hint of confusion.  
Rosa had started dusting the cracks in between the professor’s many rows of books, paying little attention. “…Yes.”  
“Rosa…” Layton stepped out of the thin crack separating the coffee table and the couch, now standing a close distance from Rosa. “…Flora hasn’t been here in months.”  
Rosa looked away from her lovely dusting and semi-turned her head to the left, her revealed face in a thinking, confused state. Then she twisted around. “Now I remember. That’s a little strange for you to say that…I vividly remember her coming in here today.”  
“ _Today_?” The black dots taking role of Layton’s eyes widened. Out of all the days she could come around…  
“You’re not the only one who was surprised,” Rosa continued. She drew her duster out of the final shelf and put the duster in her apron pocket.  
Layton could understand his along with her surprise; like always, Flora popped up when they least expected it. The professor realized he shouldn’t be so stunned due to that fact, but she did really appear when they least expected it. Coming into someone’s life like that will leave them thrown off. “You don’t seem very stunned, Rosa,” “That’s because I was stunned already,” Rosa said, heading towards the door. “Now it’s your turn.”  
Layton smiled in amusement. “It seems to be.”  
Rosa couldn’t help but smile the same way. She then opened her mouth to talk, only for Layton to open his at the same time. They closed it in unison, but Rosa quickly opened it again to say, “You first.”  
“Thank you,” the archaeologist said, tipping his hat. In some cases, he would have done his gentleman ways and let her talk first. This time, he decided to accept her offer with a polite reply.  
“Speaking of Flora…what was she doing here?” Layton said. “She didn’t come just to make me tea, did she?”  
“Oh no, of course not,” Rosa assured him. “She just likes helping me. She came here for something supposedly quite important.”  
Layton raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what may that be?”  
Rosa took a deep breath, her mouth forming a perfect linear shape when she let her breath out. “I’m not sure if you will believe me or not, but…she came here to give you a letter.”  
For a few, long seconds, Layton did not know how to react. The only sound he could hear was the gears turning in his brain, attempting to fully digest the maid’s words. After those few, long seconds, he let out a little gasp. If a different person was in Layton’s position, they would have not reacted like that; Layton usually displayed only traces of his emotions. However, Layton was in his own position, so he reacted how he would react to something like Flora, out of anyone, delivering a letter. “Well…that’s unexpected.” the professor said, letting his gaze go to the ground while keeping his head up. “May I have it?”  
“It’s on your desk,” Rosa said, adjusting her bandana once again. She made sure everything her pockets were secure before heading out. “See you later, Professor.” Turning his head to his door, the archaeologist said, “Good bye Rosa,” before Rosa opened the door and shutting it gently as she exit.  
Layton then looked down at his table. In the dead center was a white envelope. Well, of course. Unless you go to some alternative store, all envelopes are white. However, this envelope looked different to the professor’s eyes; unlike most envelopes, it was a very bright white, lighter and brighter than most paper he’d seen, and there was no return address that could explain the odd color.  
 _Is this someone I know?_ Layton thought, raising an eyebrow. __  
That was when he noticed the letter was lacking more than a return address; it had no address on it at all. The only words printed in the middle were ‘Hershel Layton’ in cursive handwriting.  
 _The only logical explanation is for Flora to have written this. However, this is not something she would typically do…she would have most likely told me anything supposedly important in person._  
Layton let out a little sign, undecided if it was really her, and if she wasn’t the author, why Flora was the one who delivered it, but he didn’t know how to get these desperate answers. He then picked up the letter and opened it carefully, thinking it was best not to rip it. _This letter could be important to keep in the future._  
He slipped the letter out of the envelope, placing the too white envelope back on the table and held the letter in both hands. The letter was just as white as the envelope, but there was something more noticeable about it that caught his attention. A little “oh?” escaped his lips at the sight of a deep red ribbon keeping the letter in its folded state.  
The red ribbon screamed ‘Flora’ in Layton’s mind; after all, the ribbons she often had in her hair and the dress she wore regularly were red. However, he knew it was too out of character for her to do.  
 _Flora doesn’t know a whole lot of the people I know, considering we haven’t traveled together that much, so it’s not that possible for her to have delivered it for someone….but there’s a post office in town. Why would they make her give to it to me instead of there?_  
Layton’s gears continued turning in his head, but he couldn’t know how to answer his own questions with a snap of his fingers; he decided to put that off for when the time came. The archaeologist carefully untied the letter, grateful it did not have a tight knot, as he didn’t really have any nails to pick at a tight knot with. The ribbon fell on to his left hand, each end visible to him, the middle section tucked under the envelope. He discarded the ribbon, putting it next to the envelope and opened the letter. He took a deep breath before reading it: 

_My old friend Hershel Layton,_ How long had it been now? Around 23 years, I presume. It’s hard to think it’s been that long…it feels like just last week we were walking to school together. I have written to you hoping you still contain my memory, despite all this time. Even if you cease to, I still have you in my thoughts. I can never forget the one who wasn’t a judgmental asshole and let me escape what was my home then with respect and acceptance. You helped me through my teenage years enough that I don’t know I can repay you. It may have been 23 years, but just a drop of kindness in the moment goes a long way.  
 _As I sadly don’t know your address, you may never get this letter, but I want you to know how much I continue to have faith in you and that if you ever happen read this, I want you to see me in America. There are important matters I can only trust you with. Of course there’s more to that story…I don’t see a point in explaining. I may be the only person who ever sees these words. I will only explain if I see your face again._  
 _I live in Sacramento, 100 miles from my previous home. If you chose to come, wait at the hotel._

_Your Grade 10 friend,_

_Adrian Roberts_  


The professor’s jaw had dropped and he had stepped back quite a few feet in the middle of reading, a very uncommon thing for him to do; however, he would have never expected in dozens of centuries would he hear from his American friend.  
Layton took slow steps back to the table and set the letter down, letting himself go into what was known as his thinking state; he crossed his arms and let the weight off his eyelids. This letter gave him an awful lot to think about.  
He changed his mind, walking from his table to his couch; he had a long enough day already. An even more uncommon thing occurred to him; he took off his hat and set it on his table. He lied down and closed his eyes, but there was so much going on in his head he couldn’t fall asleep.

 


	4. Shadow

Luke did not like school here.  
The lingering atmosphere that flickered through the halls discomforted him; it felt foreign to him, a little too foreign, creepy, and dirty. There wasn’t anyone creepy or dirty in particular that he’d seen; but those two adjectives were always left behind no matter where he walked. He let out a big huff, thinking, _Just how has Serene survived two and a half years of this place?_ A new thought he was convinced was logical popped into his mind. _Well, she had skipped grades, and maybe one of them was freshmen or sophomore year…heck, I’ll be surprised if I’ll get through the entire month I’m here._  
Luke gritted his teeth, his not so lovely mood wanting to stand out of him at the fact he still had another class. The day has been long enough already…I think it’s been…6 hours by now? The English adolescence didn’t know for sure; most of the clocks in the building were in classrooms, and he didn’t pay very close attention to them even in there. It felt worse enough that he didn’t know what time it was, and there the rare sight of there being no one in the hall to ask, but he wasn’t positive what part he was at the school along with that. Every row of lockers, every set of walls, and every square of the building he could see looked the same. This must have been boring to build, having to construct the same thing a hundred times.  
The 14 year old let his gaze skim the hallway, finding it useless to look for anything in particular, but having the urge to move his eyes. He couldn’t but help notice the sharp gleam of the ground; it was unusual clean for a giant, almost century old high school like this. Luke would think there would be dust bunnies and dirt sticking to the edges of the walls, and papers and trash fluttering on the ground, but there was none.  
Despite the gleam and scents of the hall, Luke felt himself lost as if he was walking through a row of trees rather than a contained pair of walls; he felt the shadows of the windows as if they were shade poured on to him, but without the chill.  
He led himself to the edge of the hall in between two small sets of lockers, setting down his turquoise backpack and taking out his binder. Holding on to his backpack with his left hand, he yanked out his worn out binder with his right, his left hand sabotaging the backpack to grasp the spine of his binder. He opened his binder and dug in the front pocket, pulling out a paper full of shaded grey boxes. His eyes skimmed down the list, looking for his answers with frustration.  
 _Hmmm…first period eight o’clock to eight fifty five, second period nine o’clock to ten o’ clock…_  
Before Luke could skim the rest of the list, he could feel the mere hairs on his neck rise. He raised an eyebrow, temporarily letting the thought he somehow couldn’t tell how many classes he had left leave his mind. It was abnormal enough for a person to stare at what he felt like was an average person like him, but what made the abnormality greater was that he knew for a fact there was no one else in the hall.  
Too eager to know what made his neck hairs go up at that speed, simply placed his schedule in the front of his binder and placed it on the ground. He then turned around, keeping his face and movements neutral.  
In his front line of vision, there was nobody in sight, as if nothing had passed through this hall except him for…days? Weeks? Months? He couldn’t tell. However, Luke was smarter than to just shrug it off; he left his stuff overlap each other at the wall and stood in a fully straight position.  
“Hello?” Luke called out, his accented voice echoing off the walls. The 14 year old heard something inside him saying that saying, ‘Hello?’ wasn’t going to get whoever was slinking in these halls to pop out, but he didn’t know how else to respond.  
Luke froze in his spot for several long, silent moments, saying as still and quiet as he could to detect the other being’s spot. However, he couldn’t stay frozen for long; he figured if nothing happened for the amount of time he was in this state, nothing was going to happen sooner or later.  
His instincts stayed in control; rather than forget about the situation and continue being the lost little boy he was apparently being, he slowly turned around and cautiously put his items back into his backpack. He zipped it slowly; adrenaline rushing whenever a more powerful sound of the zipper alerted his ears, but even when his backpack was all packed up the hall remained in the same state.  
He walked closer to the center of the hall as quietly as he could, holding back curses when his show made even a slight sound. He began walking down the hall, his intention of staying quiet still in his mind, but a realization soon crossed him.  
 _Why am I trying to be so quiet anyway?_ he thought, standing in a straight position, his two fingers landing on different sides of his chin. _There’s clearly been nothing in the hall for…I don’t even know how long. It wouldn’t hurt to walk like a normal person now._  
The English adolescence just shrugged and walked on, trying to forget those last uncomforting few minutes he had pulled himself through. He reached the turn, a flame of hope rising inside him; he wasn’t sure what he was hoping for exactly, whether it was finding someone who could tell him where the hell he was in the school, and the time.  
The sudden thought of time switched Luke’s consciousness to another part of his brain; his vision and hearing filtered out of his present position as he was absorbed deep into a memory. Though they weren’t too often, there were times when his mind could sabotage reality, going deep enough in thought to alarm anyone. Luke knew it wasn’t an uncommon thing; he’d seen Layton do it plenty of times, and other people he knew.  
 _Layton…_ Ironically, the memory he felt himself dive into involved that very man.  
Spoken words flooded into his mind; words said in the conversation of the memory were passing through is brain. Though he could hear the words, he heard them without his ears; only his mind. He had little understanding on how anyone could hear without their ears; he did understand how the brain was also involved in hearing, not just your ears. However, the though still triggered him.  
A small gasp escaped Luke’s lips at the realization of the words vanishing from his internal hearing. His senses guided back into reality, his vision returning to its working state. He could no longer see inside his bright, young mind; he was stuck with having to look at the gloomy halls of the high school.  
That wasn’t all he could see in his spectrum of vision.  
To his right, he could see long, skinny legs sliding down the floor, at a quite fast rate. The legs belonged to a somewhat tall, dark person wearing a black hood with black bangs hanging from the edge of the hood. The hood and bangs concealed much of the person’s face, but Luke could make out icy blue eyes and pale, smooth skin. Thanks to the professor he had lived with for three bumpy years of his life, the 14 year old was quite aware on how to properly greet a person; even a stranger, for that matter. However, he felt his knowledge on socialization slip away from him at the sight of this person.  
He knew there couldn’t be much of a reason why his skills slipped; he had encountered plenty of people in his life, a big portion adults, some of those adults unstable. Yet he had the ability to speak in front of them, he had no nerve to talk around this mysterious teenager that was coming his way.  
The older adolescence came farther down the hall, seemingly giving little attention to Luke. That didn’t help Luke’s emotions, however; shivers of discomfort continued to rattle through his body.  
 _I don’t know what’s going on with this guy,_ Luke’s thoughts managed to ramble, _but something’s really off about him. I just can’t put my finger on it…_  
Luke used all his might to open his mouth to speak. He could only take a small breath to say his first words before freezing again.  
The dark-emotion teenager was only feet away now, realizing Luke’s presence, but paying little attention…or so Luke thought. Luke closed his mouth, jumping to the conclusion of this boy being just an unusual being that was passing by him like anyone else would; however, he could soon see his conclusion proven wrong.  
The older boy lifted his head up, revealing his pale, round face and his oval shaped, icy blue eyes. Even with his head lifted up, it was difficult to see his entire face altogether; his long bangs were shaped in a way to attempt to hide his face. Regardless, Luke could still identify this person who was making his senses and instincts shiver. His instincts suddenly relaxed, tension releasing out of Luke’s bones as the stranger simply passed him, and still looking at him with those icy eyes, but by his behavior meant no threat.  
Luke made the decision not to move until he was out of the dark teenager’s sight and hearing range before having the will to move again. Now that the thought was floating across his mind, he had next to little knowledge why he felt so haunted from merely an older teenage boy; hell, he hardly noticed Luke’s presence in the first place. Whatever was going on, the 14 year old didn’t want to spend any more time focusing on it; he was in a pretty damned confused situation already.  
He let out a gigantic sigh, letting himself continue on his lost search of where he was suppose to be at this time, or what was happening at this time, for that matter.


	5. Abrupt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys. I went through some emotional issues in October, and after that I kept getting addicted to 3DS games I happened to receive (not Professor Layton), or I got busy. I actually have the flu right now, but I gathered the energy to finish and post this chapter.

Serene gripped on to her backpack straps, stepping down the dirtyish white shade of the steps as fast as her not very long legs would go. She jumped down the last step, her feet slamming into the pavement underneath as she landed. Her racing down the steps wasn’t a common thing for her to do; she used to race down the steps with Eric all the time throughout freshmen year, but it soon left their schedule due to different classes and just the different energy of their lives as time went on.  
The thought of Eric brought a sudden realization to Serene’s head.  
 _Say, I haven’t seen Eric at all since break,_ she thought, her attention drifting from the world in front of her to the thought of her best, and only, friend. _He always sits next to me at lunch, and we usually walk home together at the end of the day…_  
She lifted her small-framed shoulders into a confused shrug. _Seriously…where would he be? He could have simply gone to the dentist or something, but he would have told me._  
The auburn-haired junior could only let out a sigh, knowing it would be fairly complicated to track him down, or for any one to even have an idea where he could be.  
Serene considered herself a loner at school; she felt lucky she even had Eric to talk to. Eric wasn’t much more popular himself anyway; if she bothered to ask anyone, they would probably have no idea who the fuck she was talking about.  
Serene personally didn’t mind being what she called a loner; from what she’d observed from popular schoolmates, being popular wasn’t as great as everyone assumed it was. However, a downside she realized to not having this unsatisfying life was the few people she had to talk to, and the few people that know of her existence.  
All Serene could do was sigh, knowing she would always be the loner she was; throughout the rest of high school, college, and her adult life.  
Though she was aware of the fact it’s not very healthy to jump to conclusions about her own future, or anyone’s future, she couldn’t help herself but make that very assumption; she could recall memories back from kindergarten when there would be all the kids playing with each other on the playground, and there would be her sitting on some undergrowth in the trees on the edge of the campus, flinging sticks to see if they would hit a high branch.  
Despite her odd behavior even from such a young age, she couldn’t help but smile at the memory; she remembered the satisfaction of being alone, and the fact no adult could find her and attempt to drag her to the other kids.  
Serene than realized she would start repeating her damned life story of she continued on this topic. Not wanting to go on to that topic, she shuddered her shoulders before taking her mind to a better place.  
The auburn haired junior’s heart suddenly dropped to the ground as her ankles tripped over something on the trail, her copper colored eyes widening in shock, her lips opening in a gasp. Her arms splayed out, attempting to catch her balance, but the drop of her body was too sudden to save her. Her knees crashed to the ground, the trapped gasp inside her letting itself out, her arms slamming on to the dust of the path.  
 _…What the fuck just happened?_  
Serene couldn’t help but flinch, flushed inside shock after the unusually sudden fall; it wasn’t every day she as little as stumbled on this path. Releasing several big huffs of air, she pushed her palms on the ground, pushing herself up. She let out a hiss of pain when she bent her knees; she felt a spark of stinging sensation when she attempted to bend both of her knees, her right one in particular.  
Despite the pain, she lifted her body into a standing position, bending her knees slightly to ease at least some on the pain. She looked down at her knees, her hands flat on her thighs. She felt a perk of adrenaline when she saw the sight on them; a large, thin part round, part square shaped cut slowly bled out of her left knee, and what looked like a shallow hole bled a thick trail of blood down her right leg.  
Serene bit her lip in concern. _Shit, what should I do? I’m still a distance from home, I see no other human being in site, and I’m nowhere near a water source…_  
It was then an idea popped into the cocky teenager’s mind.  
She threw her backpack on the ground, carefully making sure she didn’t straighten her legs as she dug through the second largest pocket of her bag. She fished around for a few seconds before she pulled out her silver water bottle. The weight she felt pull down the index finger she was tugging it up with gave her the message there was still some water inside it.  
Serene released a small “phew” before unscrewing the cap and, slowly and carefully, pouring the precious resource on to her knee. The feel of the clear liquid on her pale skin stung like hell, but she brushed off the stinging, knowing it was better than an infection later on. She pulled her hoodie sleeve over her hand, took the water that hadn’t run very far down her leg, and rubbed it softly on to the worse scrape, repeating the process on her other injury.  
She let out several deep breaths, attempting to relax the stress that was coming upon her head and the stinging sensation on her legs. She was a little too aware of the fact she had no band-aids or other legitimate object to stop the goddamn bleeding, she was nowhere near home, and that she didn’t have Eric around to drag her ass for the rest of the way home.  
 _You know what? I don’t need this shit. I’m gonna get home, and my screwed up knees aren’t gonna stop me._  
Serene put her water bottle back inside her bag, zipped it up, and flung it over her right shoulder. She made sure her backpack was balanced on her shoulder, and she started walking again.  
The missing skin from the top of her knee pressed on the lower parts of her knee, causing choppy sensations of annoying stinging, but Serene didn’t give a shit at this point; she made her steps as large and fast as she could take.  
She kept walking, her mind only focused on her getting her ass back home while still in a legitimate state. After several long minutes of this peaceful, yet heated moment, Serene realized something she should have realized long before her fall.  
 _Isn’t there some public telephone nearby where I can call my mom to get me some help? Or Eric? Or even Tyler, for fuck’s sake? I mean, I’m in the middle of some abandoned place of some park where I see very few buildings, but this is the state capitol._  
Serene started running down the path, her mind trapped in the heat of the moment. She knew somewhere deep inside she wasn’t quite sure why she was freaking out as much as she was; the injuries on her knees were simply scrapes, and not too big compared to other she’d seen.  
 _What the hell is wrong with me?_ her thoughts shouted, her mind pulling itself back together. _I shouldn’t even be getting this frantic. Home isn’t even that far anyway._  
Serene brought her legs to a halt, her spine jumping, working recklessly to regain its balance. She sucked in huge breaths of air, letting her eyelids temporarily shut, adrenaline running through her system .  
 _Stop worrying,_ she demanded herself. _Keep walking like some civilized human._  
She took a final breath, gripping her hands on to the straps of her backpack before getting her legs to walk.  
It didn’t take long for her to stop thinking about her injuries; she let her mind ponder about where the hell Eric went, her homework, and just random shit about life.  
Her mind got distracted enough for her to shudder in surprise when she saw the flat, dark brown fencing of her house just down the trail. She felt a flicker of glee before simply walking down the path to her house.  
Just before she came across her fence, she happened to take a glance at the cloudless sky. She was a little stunned to see the sun barely above the trees; the sky was still a vibrant blue, but the level was lower than she expected. _Damn, was I really going that slow? I hope my mom doesn’t get all bitchy on me…_  
Serene knew it was better to not get overwhelmed about it; she stressed out enough just on a couple of knee scrapes.  
She simply walked through the cement front lot of her house, going down the pavement path that led to her door. She went up the couple of steps, and reached her hand for the door.  
Suddenly, she froze.  
 _Fuck._  
Out of the whole walk back home, it was then she realized she forgot something highly crucial.  
 _I forgot to bring Luke home._


	6. Unclear

Hershel Layton slowly blinked his eyes open, the feeling returning into his limbs, and his face, the hints on sunlight leaking through the window blinding him for a dozen or so seconds. He took a big breath of air, laying in confusion of where he was, what had happened and how he got there. It took him a few long moments to remember where his body was laying and the events of the previous day.   
_The letter._   
The professor let out a small gasp, his eyes now adjusted enough to the light for him to widen them, and lifted himself off his couch. He pushed himself up into a standing position before walking the mere amount of feet toward his desk, where the mysterious, unexpected letter had showed up the night before.   
Thoughts rushed back through his skull at the thought of the mere piece of paper; many of these thoughts were puzzling suspicions he had no information about to help him solve. _Adrian couldn’t have had the smallest idea of my present address…how possibly could have I managed to get this into my hands? It_ has _been 23 years…am I really the only person he sees enough trust in to request help for what seems like such a serious issue?_   
The archaeologist could go on for hours, maybe even days, with questions of the simple piece of paper that lay on his desk. He knew better than to trap himself in his hurricane of unanswered secrets; it was a better idea for him to plan his way into getting the unanswered secrets answered.   
His eyes skimmed his desk, looking for the fresh, white paper the letter had been secrets written all over it, and the red ribbon that had been tied around it. His eyes widened for a split second when his sight noticed it, picking it up and putting it into his coat pocket to keep it safe.   
He turned his back to his desk, taking a few seconds to figure out what to do. He shut his eyes and let his mind ramble.   
His mind didn’t have much to say at first; he had to fully digest the letter’s precious words before letting himself build possible solutions. It didn’t take very long for more and more words to flow through the man’s mind; suddenly thoughts were shooting everywhere, building ideas, thoughts, and sentences at a surprisingly quick pace.   
His small, black eyes soon opened, a small, clever smile spreading across his face.   
_Rosa did tell me Flora delivered this, but why her, out of anyone? As much as I know, if Adrian has really been in America ever since he went back all those years ago, there’s no way he could know of Flora’s existence…_   
The idea of there being an obscure, slight, or unknown connection between Adrian and Flora flickered in his mind, but he knew it was too early in this case to be wondering about that certain mystery. He decided it would be best to begin by asking Rosa about Flora’s sudden appearance.   
He simply hoped Rosa would come by soon, if at all that day, and tried to get himself to look through some of the latest work he had gotten from a few other archaeologists in London.   
He sat down at his desk, going through notes and summaries, but he could only concentrate for a few minutes at a time before his focus would move to the shock and words embedded in the letter, or hope Rosa would coincidentally come by at that moment.   
It didn’t take long for him to look up from the notes and sighed, realizing his career would not relax his soul. He got up, thinking of an alternative solution to make him relax. _Maybe I’ll go for a walk._   
He let a tiny smile go across his face, wishfully thinking this idea could get the damned letter out of his head for once. He took his coat off his coat hanger, put it on himself, and stepped out the door.   
He quietly closed the door behind him, not wanting to make an echo loud enough to disturb anyone nearby. He quickly adjusted his hat, making sure it was on his head just right before walking down the hall toward the university’s main entrance.   
He took a deep breath, taking a look at the image that his brain captured right in front of him; the stony path that lead out of the university, the short green grass filling the space between the building the university was placed inside and the picket fencing right next to one of the many sidewalks of London, and the regular street that passed right in front of Layton’s workplace.   
He let his legs guide himself rather than setting his own destination; he strolled past several neighborhoods, many of them he knew due to living in London for as long as he had and knowing it so well. He realized how long it had been since he had taken such a peaceful walk by himself; with having Luke at his side for years, and traveling around England to tackle some of the biggest mysteries, he had little time for things like this.   
He couldn’t tell how much time had passed-15 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour-until he guided himself back to his office. His mind felt refreshed; thoughts of the letter had slithered away from his mind, and he felt at peace, relaxed, and ready to work, or even better, maybe solve a puzzle.   
He opened his office door, turning around to close it before taking a seat on the couch. He let himself sit for a bit, questioning himself what to do next. Just about a minute later, he felt someone looming over him.   
His face didn’t move a muscle, but his senses tensed up a bit at the feel of another person in the room. He turned his head, part of his left eye enabling to see what was behind him.   
He let out a small relieved sigh when he saw it was Rosa. _Well, both us had quite coincidental timing._   
He got off his couch, using his manners and looking at her in the face. He could feel his heart rate rise at the thought of asking her about what could lead him to finding out what’s behind Flora; he was thankful, however, for simply having his brain and heart work faster at the thought rather than feeling like a stick kept being jabbed at him. _This may be because I’m only thinking about Flora and not the letter…I really shouldn’t think about it. Preferable not now, while I’m trying to speak to my maid._  
“What brings you here today, Rosa?”   
She turned around, startled by the sound of his voice. “Oh…I just wanted to say hello,” she said, brushing off hints of dirt off her apron with her left hand. “I know I checked here yesterday, but there’s not much to do since its Sunday…”   
“That’s quite alright, Rosa,” the archaeologist said with a calm smile. “I just happen to need to talk to you myself.”   
“Really?” A bit of surprise was heard in the maid’s voice. She had some astonishment in her eyes for a couple seconds before they vanished, which then she had said, “Oh…it’s about the letter, isn’t it?   
Layton ignored the stick jabbing into him as he said, “You could say so…but I’m mostly asking about Flora.” He took a breath to relax his senses as he continued, Rosa looking him straight in the face, clearly listening. “…Did she mention any details about the letter to you? As in if it was important or not, or if she is the original author of it?”   
Rosa put her hand on her chin for a moment, rubbing her jaw with a couple fingers, in thought. “Not much. She did mention someone asking her to give it to you, but I have no clue who actually wrote it, or what it said.”   
“I’m assuming you didn’t bother asking her much about it.” Rosa was just a maid; Layton knew that she’d know better than to dig for details on the professor’s messages he received. If Flora had stayed long enough to pick out tea for me, and to help Rosa a bit, Rosa must have picked up on some information she has, or at least some clues Flora could have slipped.   
“Well, no,” Rosa said. “I got the vibe that there’s something up with the letter the second Flora had given it to me to give to you, but I decided I shouldn’t say anything about it. Plus, she didn’t seem to keen on the subject either…”   
The professor put his hand on his chin, similar to what Rosa had done just moments ago. “Not too keen?”   
“Not at all,” Rosa continued. “She didn’t give me eye contact while handing or mentioning the letter to me, and she gave off a vibe of discomfort.”   
“Interesting…” Layton said, wondering for a brief amount of seconds before adding, “What did she do after handing you the letter, other than pick out tea for me?”   
Rosa thought for a moment, scratching the back of her neck. “She did stay for a little while, like I mentioned yesterday…we mostly just chatted, and she helped me clean a bit, then headed out without a good bye.”   
Layton dropped his eyelids slightly. “Hmmmm…” Most of the information he had gathered about this sudden incident seemed a bit fishy, despite it being the first few steps of getting to the bottom of the mystery. For Hell’s sake, he hadn’t even had the proper time and space to think, yet something sounded mysteriously wrong with Flora’s behavior during her occurrence, and though he couldn’t know for sure just yet, the tone of the letter.   
“It sounds like something very…fishy is going on with Flora,” the archeologist eventually said.   
“Tell me about it,” Rosa said, her tone rising slightly in order to empathize her statement. “She didn’t act much like Flora, that’s for sure.”   
“Well, by how unusual these circumstances are, that’s not much of a surprise,” Layton said.   
“Yep,” the maid said, nodding a little.   
Layton stood there for a few moments, thinking of more questions that could possibly give him more information. He had to keep from letting desperation flood through him as something quite vital popped into his head.   
He opened his mouth to ask this vital question, but unfortunately, he noticed Rosa looking at the wall behind him, her eyes widening.   
“Oh…My apologizes, Professor, but I have to go,” she said quickly.   
Layton exited his thinking. “Mind if I ask where to?” He was aware that as a gentlemen, he was better off staying out of people's lives unless they were willing to open up to him, but he couldn't help himself' Rosa's life was more or less her cleaning and chatting with people all around Gressenheller University.   
“…There are some rooms I forgot to clean yesterday,” the maid explained. “I better get to it.”   
Layton tipped his hat. “Very well. Farewell, Rosa.”   
“Good bye,” Rosa said, adjusting her bandana and walking out.   
The archaeologist let out a big sign, walking over to his couch to take a seat. He put his hands on his lap, closing his eyes. He felt grateful that Rosa, almost strangely, came by for a second day in a row, and though Rosa couldn’t get much out of Flora, he at least knew how odd she acted.   
_It’s not too much information, but it shows there’s a lot going on with her and the letter,_ Layton told himself.   
He sat inside his head, repeating the conversation, going over Rosa’s wording and body language during every sentence that poured out of her mouth. It didn’t take too long for him to catch a mistake. More like a few mistakes, for that matter.   
_Wait a minute…_ the college professor thought. _  
Didn’t Rosa say at the beginning of the conversation that she came here because she didn’t have much to do? She could have forgotten about it and didn’t remember until that very moment, but that’s not something that happens to Rosa._   
Layton opened his eyes, though he didn’t really look at anything; he merely opened them because it felt more comfortable than keeping them closed. _She could had used my clock on the wall that happens to be behind me as an excuse to leave…she had some signs of discomfort throughout the entire time I spoke to her. I find it ironic she left as soon as I was going to ask Flora’s whereabouts..._   
A perk of confusion crossed Layton’s mind; _But if she was discomforted as her body language gave away and even found a quick excuse to leave, why did she come in here at all?_  
The archaeologist looked at the ground, even more disappointed than he was since he first woke up. He thought talking to Rosa would help him, even just a little bit, but now it was bringing more goddamn questions, and a sign of something very wrong with the sudden letter.   
Layton pondered while still sitting on the couch, wondering what he should do next. _I’m gonna have a hard time getting anything more out of Rosa, let alone finding her again. She never informs me when she comes around again, and if she does come anytime soon I might not be here. I have little idea where Flora lives now, and Rosa left before I could ask…_   
The professor did not let his mind imitate him, thinking of some type of idea that could get him somewhere. _What to do…_   
For the first time in a while, a small smile appeared on Layton’s face. He may not know the reasons behind Rosa’s current odd behavior, but he knew her well enough to drag her along into the mystery he knew he had to crack.


	7. Idiot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HIGHLY apologize for not writing for such a long time. Freshmen year has been a rough one, and I have not had the inspiration, time, or energy to write due to personal issues I cannot control. I had all three of those things this week because of spring break. I will post much more often in the summer since I have much less going on then.

Luke let out a huge sigh.  
He had no idea how long he’d actually been in the creepy halls of the school but he estimated it was somewhere around 10 minutes or so, probably less, he couldn’t quite tell, despite him feeling it was so much longer.  
 _Woah, this school is huge! Almost ten minutes and I’m still fairly clueless…_  
He then lifted up his head, hoping he hadn’t traveled in a circle; he’d done that more than a few times in the last mere ten minutes he’d been drifting around the uncanny halls. Just a few seconds after lifting his head up, he noticed a big square shaped gap in the wall to his right. Not one of those random small gaps in walls that people most likely don’t even know how they appeared there; it was kind of gap that was an entrance to another room.  
 _Hey, I remember this place…er, I’m pretty sure I remember it…_  
He walked into the room, and sure enough, he remembered immediately where he was.  
 _The cafeteria._  
It looked like any old cafeteria at a generic public high school; the metal bins filled with food on the far side of the room, tables scattered everywhere, garbage cans standing every few rows. Luke, however, didn’t see this room as just any old cafeteria and a generic public high school; his family hadn’t bothered to send him to public school before coming to this country. Because of his father’s role, he had been homeschooled during his childhood years, and he spent his preteen years traveling with Professor Layton.  
In the 14 year old boy’s eyes, it was an unusually large room filled with pungent smells of aged processed food, teenagers, and trash. He remembered coming in here during lunch what was probably a few hours ago, those smells being the very first things he had noticed. He hadn’t been able to find Serene anywhere, so he had just eaten by himself at one of the corner tables in the back of the left side of the room. No one had come to sit near him, which he found quite strange considering how crowded this school seemed to be.  
 _Serene also told me foreign exchange students tend to get a lot of attention…but as I’ve said, this school is huge. The only way people would probably notice me is if I spoke, since according to Kaylene I have a very strong English accent…_  
His accent has fascinated Kaylene; that seemed to be one of the very first things she noticed about him, and she had rambled on how much she enjoyed different accents. Serene in particular had rolled her eyes more or less the whole time, later telling Luke about her unfortunate immaturity and she’s a bit like an 11 year old girl inside a 39 year old woman. Luke wasn’t fond of the fact that a full grown woman he has to live with can behave in an immature way, but she was very generous and kind otherwise, so it didn’t bother him too much of an extent.  
Luke stood a few feet away from the cafeteria’s opening, looking around the room. He noticed it looked somewhat smaller without all those damn people in there, and that it was somewhat dirty; mainly on the floors, but he could see random gunk on the tables closest to him.  
 _Does the room ever get cleaned? Luke thought. It wouldn’t make much sense not too; hundreds, no, scratch that, over a_ thousand _teenagers eat here five times a week._  
The English young man shrugged, exiting the room and making his way down the hall.  
About a minute later, he had been looking at the ground again, pondering in his head about this odd country and the things he’d seen in it so far, when his left side bumped into someone.  
“Oof!” he grunted out, recoiling as quickly as he could, his backpack almost falling of his shoulder.  
His heart nearly plunged to the ground; the memories of his recent crash with that emo dude that nearly made him have yet another meltdown. Luke wasn’t the type to have meltdowns, much less over a random person he happens to pass by one day. With his mysteries with Professor Layton, he’d bumped into plenty of suspicious, strange people without a meltdown.  
 _So why am I breaking now? Why was that on teenage boy so haunting?_  
He could only wonder who that guy really was, what gave Luke such a haunting vibe, and why he was surrounded in darkness. _But then again, chances are, I may never see him again. So what’s the point of all this wondering…?_  
He took a deep breath, hoping it wasn’t this same very suspicious person. He opened his eyes, daring himself not to let his breath out.  
Just seconds after daring himself not to, Luke let out a breath of relief; it wasn’t the haunting dude. In front of him was a guy around the same age as the haunting dude, but that was probably the only thing that was even the same about them.  
His relief didn’t last for long; it took him a bit longer than it should have to realize it shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up.  
It was Max.  
 _Oh no…not him again!_ Luke’s mind screeched.  
He knew down inside that he should just give a quick sorry and get the hell away from this dude, but his legs froze in place; actually, it was more like his whole body froze in place. He felt grateful that he could even open his mouth to speak.  
“My apologies, sir,” Luke started. “I didn’t mean t-“  
“Oh hey, it’s foreign boy,” Max snarled, not even letting Luke finish his apology.  
Luke had to stop for a second to keep himself from getting even as little as sparks of anger. _Great._ “My apologies sir, I didn’t mean to bu-“  
“Who the hell cares about your _frickin’_ apologies?” Max lashed out. “If you were actually trying to apologize, you wouldn’t have bumped into me in the _frickin’_ first place.”  
Luke raised an eyebrow, his anger flipping into utter confusion. _His logic makes no sense; how could have I apologized for something that didn’t happen? Even though it did happen, it was an accident to begin with! And what is up with his saying the word frickin in such a vulgar way? It sounds more ridiculous than threatening…_ “It was an accident, sir!” Luke exclaimed, some of his anger coming back. “Do you think I just walk around hallways trying to bump into people?”  
“Don’t call me sir, you piece of crap,” Max snapped. “I’m not some old man.”  
Luke had started to wonder why the hell Max thought being called sir made him sound old; however, around the same time he noticed Max was slowly inching towards him. _What is he trying to do, bump into me again?_  
“I won’t call you sir then,” Luke slightly growled back. “I didn’t mean to bump into you, so I don’t see why you’re getting angry at me.”  
Max let out a huge huff, his face becoming a tint of pink due to his irrational anger. “Uh, because you did bump into me, despite not-“ Max took his hands, raised them up, and moved his index and third finger up and down-“’meaning’ to bump into me, you idiot.”  
Luke’s eyebrows scrunched down, heat rising in the large, open room. “You’re still not convinced? Fine then.” Luke let out a huff before moving to the side and walking past the stubborn boy in front of him. “I’ll just be off to my next class, far away from _you_.” Luke made sure to put plenty of empathizes on the last word of his sentence.  
The English young man expected Max to come grabbing his shirt to yank him closer to his range, but as he moved his legs quickly, unless his sensing were crapping him, he didn’t hear or feel Max coming towards him.  
 _Well, at least he’s now backing off. I don’t think it’s going to stay that way._  
It was right after that thought that Max made a quite unexpected move.  
“That would be a great plan, foreign boy, if the last class hadn’t let out about 15 minutes ago.”  
The 14 year olds blood turned into ice. _WHAT?_  
He slowly turned around, meeting Max’s gaze from several feet away. His defenses dropped due to the shock, and as much as a rude bastard Max clearly was, Luke was getting a feeling in his gut that he wasn’t making this up. “…The last class already let out?”  
“Man, you _are_ an idiot,” Max replied, smirking. “Yeah, school ends at 3:15. Of course, this school is frickin stupid enough to not put any clocks around here.” The brown haired boy let out a scoff.   
_The way he says that frickin word still really bothers me,_ Luke noted. _He didn’t say it around Serene this morning at all…well, at least he doesn’t seem as angry anymore. Huh, his emotions sure changed fast…_  
“Unless you’re still angry at me, I still have one more question, which yes, will probably make me sound like an idiot,” the English boy told Max.  
“Whatever,” he replied, rolling his eyes somewhat.  
“…Alright,” Luke hesitated for a moment before completing his request, surprised Max wasn't bitching him out.; “Where the entrance to the school?”  
Max made a face that showed Luke that he genuinely had to pause for a moment and try not to laugh out loud. To Luke’s thanks, he still answered the question, hiding most of his sickening amusement from his voice; “Pfft, funny you ask here. If you turn right down this hall if should be 10 or so feet away.” The brown haired boy closed his mouth to finish what he had to say, but he then added, “Now, don’t expect me to be nice to you just because I got your ass out of this hellscape.” Max then walked by him, guiding himself to the exit.  
…  
 _Well, that was…interesting._  
 _Luke didn’t know what else to say._  
He truly felt like an idiot for having to drag his ass through all this, thinking there was still one more class, only for the exit to be right there with school let out. He admits that he had tried to come into a few classrooms to ask people for help, despite the embarrassment that would come with it, but they had been locked. The English boy couldn’t understand why he hadn’t thought better to the reasoning of them being locked until now.  
 _However…wouldn’t the hallways would probably have more people if the school day was over entirely?_ Luke let his gaze drop to the ground. _If only Professor were here…_  
He waited until Max’s footsteps were out of his hearing range, then walked the same way as the other boy did, releasing the biggest breath of relief he’d let out all day. He then opened the door of the exit, breathing a breath of wonderful fresh air. _Now that I’m out of there it feels much more open and relaxing outside…_  
He went down a few steps, some tenser thoughts still in his mind, but feeling at ease at the same time. Out of nowhere, he remembered that he had to get back to his temporary home. A random and coincidental thought.  
 _…How exactly do I get home? To my knowledge, there’s no ride for me here, and Serene…_  
 _Drat! Serene! Where is she?_  
It was then he realized he was told that morning Serene was suppose to walk with him home that day.


End file.
